A touch of happiness
by RamblingRambler
Summary: A story based around the characters Anne and Aramis, and how I wished things had played out. Mainly from the POV of Anne, but may switch to Aramis in future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, I'm 15 and love writing, but obviously given my age I am unexperienced. I have been reading fics on here a while now and have finally got round to writing some of my own. Writing is my passion and I would love to receive any type of feedback. Thank you for reading** **J**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own The Musketeers**

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Drops of golden sunlight slivered through the cracks in the clouds, shimmering down upon the palace walls. These rays of unattainable beauty were what peeled the lids of Anne's eyes open. It was not an unpleasant thing, to be woken by such exquisiteness, it was often the highlight of her dulled day; a moment of peace.

Glancing to the side, the neighbouring pillow showed itself unscathed. Waking up alone in a bed made for two, often caused Anne great sadness, despite this, she did not lust for the King, she did not wish him to fill the empty space beside her, even the thought raised the hairs upon her arms. No. What she wanted was a dream, a fairy tale, a knight in shining armour who could save her from this lonesome life. It was with these dreams of remote happiness and great strength that powered her to move step by step away from her chambers and towards her reality. As soon as the first soul came into sight, her body immediately awakened. Her slumped back coiled up, neck straightening into a stiff, upwards, regal position and her eyes, stern, met each and every bowed head with a look of power that came out of nowhere.

The throne room was grand in its architect; walls towering upwards with carved patterns etched on, serving as a symbol of great richness. One of her favourite parts of the palace was the stained glass, though few presented themselves in the palace, Anne took great pleasure in gazing upon them. She found each sheath of painted glass told a story, tales of god, religion, freedom and love. She often wished the colours that brightened the otherwise plain glass could also hold the ability to brighten her irksome life. The room itself was desolate, with not much furniture besides the two thrones that stood towards centre back. This is where she spent the majority of the next hour. Gazing upon the court life, listening to the blatant sounds of chatter that ricocheted off the walls. She remained sat beside her husband, a smile plastered to her face as she chuckled along with all the jokes made her way. Royal life had its advantages, it shamed her to have such negative thoughts filled with complaint after complaint, but the truth is, being Queen was a bore. She had no friends. They left millennia ago, trotted back to the beaches of Spain where they bathed in the blazing sun, and acquainted themselves with men by the names of Juan and Leonardo. Oh how she missed the Spanish court. It was these fond, overwhelming thoughts, that compelled Anne to swiftly make an unannounced exit. She stood against a wall, surrounded by stone pillars allowing her to be hidden by a mask of invisibility. Regaining her breath she gazed towards the vast sky, thoughts clouding her vision.

Whispers always intrigued Anne. Hushed secrets passed from one to another in hopes that they would remain that; a secret. And yet it was always to the amusement of the Queen, that these so called _secrets_ managed to miraculously find their way to her ears. That is how Aramis came a part of her life.

Two women rushed along the alleyway beside her, their voices low in pitch. And yet she heard every word. "He loves me I know he does, it's all about the eyes. His eyes. They speak words his mouth will not. Those big brown eyes bore into my soul showing me his love." A tall women, pudgy round the edges suddenly came into sight pulling her lyrical friend to a halt, "this is ridiculous, you only met but a week ago, you know his reputation how could you be so ditsy?" The friend, Colette , a women often seen around court known for her undeniable beauty, spoke again, "He makes me feel like an angel sent from the heavens, all he had to do was greet himself and I knew…I'll be dammed for falling for his ways. Aramis. My knight. who will screw with my heart and discard me within a week, and yet I do not care." "You are stupid and childish you would not know love if it hit you in the face. This is simply lust," spat the taller women, who's hands Anne noticed where balled into fists, almost as if she were resisting the temptation to punch the women in the face. "Maybe I am, but at least let me have one more moment with him and my stupidity, at least let me see him one last time?" Colette started to pace towards the throne room, clearly her mind was set on this _goodbye_ as she needn't hear her friends response. Moments passed and both women vanished leaving behind them the echoes of their words.

Aramis… She had heard this name before.


	2. Chapter 2

**So here is the second chapter, sorry the first two might be a bit boring to some people as I have been focusing on setting the scene. I think the next chapter will be from Aramis's POV as then I can spice it up with a bit more action. Hope you guys are enjoying it, reviews are appreciated**

 **samypaulchen** **: Thanks for the review! Anne is my favourite character of the whole show so I hope I did her justice**

"I order you to stop your words Captain." Growled Louis, his words barley able to escape his closely grit teeth. "You would be wise to do as I say, I have no interest in your nonsense, I've heard enough of that already throughout our acquaintance." Anne, perched stiffly beside the King could not help but notice her husbands paled knuckles as he began to throttle the arm of his throne.

Treville was a decent man, Anne liked to consider him a friend. Often when they were alone she would ask stories of life outside the palace walls. He told her how his men liked to waste their time squabbling in a tavern, he also once admitted that he himself would occasionally join them when he was in need of company. He told her of the adventures they had been on, how they took bullets for one another simply because (as she once overheard Treville whisper) "One for all and all for one." She had spent many free moments pondering on this small phrase. She began to prize the term. It was a recognition to the fact that friendships aren't always based purely upon your bloodline. She only wished she had someone to speak these words to without receiving a look of utter detest in response.

"Sire as God is my witness I mean no disrespect. It is simply that a number of my men are still recovering from their last mission, It would be inhumane to send them out so soon." Suddenly she was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of Treville's voice, which conveyed a subtle hint of distress at the situation. "I am simply suggesting we pros pone this quest until my men are fully recovered."

"Recovered?" The room silenced, clearly her courtiers were unable to comprehend the fact that she herself owned a voice. "Recovered from what Captain? Are your men injured at all?" She didn't quite understand why she was concerned, truthfully it was one man in particular who made her heart squeeze at the idea of him being hurt. It shamed her; they had never held a conversation and yet he was recently always on her mind. Anne wasn't sure if it was him in particular that made her blush or whether it was the idea of him, either way she often found herself scanning the rooms in hopes of catching his eyes.

Treville shuffled slightly on his feet, unsure of how to answer the unexpected question. "It is nothing to worry about your majesty I assure you. My men spend little of their lives uninjured, they merely have a few scrapes."

"If that is so how come they are not able to fulfil their Kings desires?" Louis was unable to contain his sense of pride at the fact he now had Treville under his claws. "Your men will rise promptly at dawn where they will arrive at the palace to personally escort her Majesty across France, where she will be met by the Duke. You will remain with her for two nights whilst she performs her duties. After all is done you will return her to me UNHARMED. You say the roads that are required to be taken are too dangerous for your men to cross safely considering the state they are in, am I correct?" Anne watched in awe at her husband's duteous statement, in that single moment he actually appeared as though he was the powerful King she was led to expect many years ago instead of the childish tantrum holder she was given.

"Yes sire, we have passed down those paths before, full of bandits and thieves, extremely dangerous it would be almost impossible to complete without someone being harmed." muttered Treville, his tone formal.

"Almost! So it can be done," sighed Louis, his back now slumped, fingers fiddling, clearly he was growing tired of the current conversation.

Moments passed before Treville finally sighed out a response, "I will have my men arrive at the palace at dawn."

"Thank you Treville, you see we really didn't need all this fuss, my judgment is generally fair and accurate. In future you should resist the temptation to speak out any reluctance you hold," chirped Louis.

The next hour was a blur of jibber jabber all along the lines of military tactics and methods to ensure Anne's safety. As the minutes ticked by her mind started to slowly drift further and further away from the world she was living in. Visions of a tall stoic man who smiles through his eyes began to project in the back of her mind. The creases his eyes form as he smiles a wide devilish grin makes her heart thud just that little bit faster. Idly, she begins to swirl the fallen locks of her hair imagining herself running her petite hands through the shaggy black mane that covers Aramis's perfect little head. All of a sudden something catches her attention… more like someone. Him! It hadn't been a daydream. She hadn't imagined his smiling eyes in her head. No, she had spent the past few minutes subconsciously nibbling at her lower lip whilst staring deep in to the eyes of a smirking Aramis. Frozen dead she stares at him like a rabbit caught in headlights. Panic-stricken she drags her eyes to the complete opposite side of the room. Hot and flustered she can feel the redness start to smear across her cheeks. What is he doing here? Did he notice her? She couldn't help but pass another glance towards his direction, yet again she was met with those mesmerising eyes.

"Darling?...DARLING?" What started out as faded words started to become more clear and crisp in her head. "Anne, are you alright?" Ashamed Anne turned to her husband, she had been to transfixed with Aramis to notice her Kings beckoning.

She was rather taken aback by the amount of embarrassment that was audible in her voice as she spoke: "sorry sire, you were saying?"

"I believe it is time for us to make our leave!" Tilting her head slightly in recognition she rose from her throne and began to slowly glide across the room. Sweeping her eyes from side to side she was met with the tops of her courtiers bowed heads. One however was not quite tilted forward enough. Perhaps it meant nothing but she could not help her heart from fluttering as her knight watched her leave the room.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the delay I've had no WiFi for a while, however I have written a few more chapters so the next updates should be fairly frequent, thank you all for the support, carry on leaving your comments in the review section. Enjoy!**

 **Dodo98: I totally agree, they had such great chemistry I think the writers should have explored it more. Thank you so much for the comment, hope you like the new chapter x**

 **Jmp: Thank you so much, you're so kind x**

Aramis awoke with a start to the sound of loud thudding. Grudgingly he swung his legs out of his bedsheets so that his feet met with the cold, solid floorboards. "WHAT?" He intended his words to project a rude undertone but what actually escaped sounded similar to a torturous wail.

"You're late for heaven's sake! You slept in; we have little time to arrive at the palace," as much as he hated the idea of an early morning, Porthos's melodious voice compelled him to swiftly stand up.

Blinking once, adjusting his clamped eyes to the blinding light, he let out a sigh. "Ok, alright, I am sorry brother I will join you shortly,"

Sniffing his previously worn shirt he shrugged it on, he figured he could get at least one more days wear out of it as it only had a couple of stains and carried little odour. Hopping across the room like a lunatic with only one trouser leg on, he managed to trip over the nightstand landing face first at the foot of the bed. He lay there briefly, contemplating whether faking an injury would get him out of this next mission. Deciding against this, he grabbed the edge of the bed, hoisting himself up. His boots were the toughest part, they were always a little on the small side but he had little money to spare on new, properly fitted ones so he sat tugging at them vigorously until they finally slid over his heels. With a few moments to spare, he carefully ran his fingers through his rugged hair and practically leaped down the stairs to where his brothers stood.

The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon, an indication that they really were late, this explained the fact that Athos was waiting impatiently on top of his horse whilst barking out his usual rude remarks, "I know your younger years are swiftly fading leaving you looking rather shrivelled and worn out, but could you really be any slower?"

"is that a challenge my dear friend?"

"Hardly" spoke Athos, adding an eye roll for affect.

Quickly delivered words suddenly became audible, D'artangnan who was currently talking sounded irritated with anger laced into each word as he spoke. "It's ridiculous how much the King asks from us, does he not understand that I haven't slept properly in months. Honestly it's so inconsiderate. How would he like it if I sent him out on mission after mission… This isn't even a mission, it's an escort. I did not leave my village to escort the rich across France!" Slumped against the wall, D'artangnan gazed into the far distance, it was unclear whether he was directing his words at someone in particular or merely himself. Although the latter seemed more fitting, Porthos couldn't help but respond.

"I would hardly say rich, It's the bloody Queen were escorting. It's an honour to be given such high trust by the King. Now quit complaining before I come over there and find a way to prevent you from ever complaining again. I'm talking sewing your mouth permanently shut… What? Why else do you think I have been working hard on perfecting my cross stitch? It's to use against muppets like you."

Aramis could not help but let loose a bellowing chuckle at his friends frustration. Just as his laughter began to fade Treville came marching in, head held high. One by one Athos, Porthos, D'artangnan and Aramis clambered upon their horses, bidding their farewells to their Captain and galloping away (hoping they would arrive at the palace before the Royals.)

They made it on time. They were now preparing for their journey; two carriages one carrying her Majesty and the other carrying her ladies. Aramis and his men were expected to ride alongside these carriages, ensuring the safety of France's Queen. Waiting for the commotion of finalising routes and establishing safety measures, Aramis stood to one side innocently patting one aggregated horse. Its soft black ears were lying back as its tail swished vigorously from side to side, signifying its anger. Aramis slowly caressed the horse's neck in a rhythmic motion. For some rather odd reason, he started thinking back to yesterday, and the Queen. He noticed her staring at him, but she looked exceedingly bored so he figured she had spaced out. What really confused him was the fact that as soon as she realised she was staring, her cheeks flamed and she almost jumped out of her own skin. He couldn't help but wonder what had caused that reaction, was it him? Admittedly, she was an extremely beautiful lady, her beauty was natural which only added to her whole aurora. But that was of little matter. She was Queen, thoughts like these would have his head on a guillotine.

"He seems to like you," Aramis turned in surprise at the unexpected disturbance, he was met with crystal blue eyes. The Queens eyes. He realised he was probably making her uncomfortable, after all she threw a comment his way and he couldn't even muster up a response. Instead he just stood there frozen, staring blankly at her. "The horse I mean. Not many are able to soothe him, you have a talent," Aramis could not help but watch the movement of her mouth as she spoke softly to him.

"Yes your Majesty." Her smile visibly faltered, clearly unimpressed with his pathetic response so he decided to carry on the statement. "At least I hope I am helping with the easement of his anger, otherwise I don't know what I am doing other than avoiding any real work that is required of me."

She chuckled slightly, he liked seeing her laugh, he liked making her laugh. "Well I advise you carry on with whatever it is you are doing, I want these horses in the best mind set for this journey. I do not wish to die at the hands of an angry horse!" Her reply was delivered jokingly, but Aramis felt compelled to reassure her that no one would be dying, especially under his watch.

"I promise you that I will not let any harm come to you," realising the informality he added a "your majesty" on the end… just in case.

At that comment she smiled at him, not her normal regal smile, but a pure genuine smile that made the corners of her glinting eyes crease a little. She opened her mouth to respond but she was suddenly pulled away by her ladies. He watched her walk, he didn't know why he felt the need to watch her walk away, but she was considered an angel on earth and he was always the religious man, it would be disrespectful to not admire her exit.

"What are you gaping at?" Athos appeared behind him, he carried with him his usual emotionless facial expression. Most found Athos to be bland of character, but they didn't know him like Aramis did. _They met eight years ago. It was his first mission in a long time due to his previous adventure which ended with him taking a bullet to the leg leaving him temporarily paralyzed. Aramis decided to celebrate his recovery at a local tavern the first night of his new mission, he doesn't remember much, but he distinctly remembers that a drunken fight between himself and a local stiff quickly escalated, the aftermath left him bloodied and on a street. A mysterious man came up to him and crouched down beside his half-conscious body, "you're a bloody mess!" was all he said, and he swiftly got up and returned to the shadows. The strange man later revealed himself to be Athos and after being forced to endure several missions together, they finally developed a loving friendship._

"I said, what are you gaping at?" Athos laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a stern look.

"I was just admiring the beautiful landscape my dear friend," lips tugging into a lopsided grin, Aramis brushed passed Athos throwing him a wink on the way.

Athos shouted after him, "I do not like that smile, it always means trouble!"

Chuckling to himself Aramis pulled himself upon his horse and adjusted the reins, "quit worrying about the meaning behind my dashing smile and grab a horse to ride."

Athos climbed on the nearest horse to Aramis, they began trotting side by side until they joined with Porthos and D'artangnan. "I'm already bored of this escort," muttered D'artangnan.

Porthos practically growled out his next words "I told you, it's a bloody mission,"

"Fine, mission. It's still bloody boring," with that statement they separated, getting into their formation around the Queens carriage. The chilly morning air was biting at their faces and there was complete silence whilst the rest of Paris slept. Aramis couldn't help but feel a settling feeling of contentment at the situation.

 **Next chapter is when the action begins and I will begin to move things along faster.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I have always had this idea that Aramis has a sister, I figured it would explain so much about his character so I decided to introduce her through memory and hopefully in later chapters she could be introduced physically. Anyway here is chapter 4, as always reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!**

 **Dodo98: haha thank you, in my head hopping with one trouser leg is the kind of thing Aramis would frequently do. It will probably almost definitely become complicated soon;) And thanks again, hope you like this chapter.**

The ride was becoming unbearable, Anne could no longer stand the unsmooth journey she was taking. Her head was being forced to wobble from side to side and she was pretty sure it might smack against the carriage wall at any moment. She occupied herself with the landscape outside, she watched the trees passing by, admiring how coarse the bark of the trunk appeared and how it resembles the wrinkles of an old man's face. She could just make out the silhouette of Porthos's body, he was riding just ahead of her, she admitted that he wasn't exactly making the journey any easier with his constant whistling. Unfortunately, even though she was Queen she could not command them to stop and turn back, she had duties to do and even if she could she would never resort to such blatant rudeness.

Abruptly the carriage began to shake more violently, and she saw the men outside jump off their horses. She had no clue what was going on outside so she crouched down placing her hands over her ears. Fear crept over her body as the muffled sounds of shouting grew louder and louder. She chanced a look outside only to see the world spinning slightly. Letting out a squeal Anne yelped for help. Her body was now being flung around carelessly, her bottom levitating of the floor only to crash back down upon it moments later.

The shaking carried on a while longer, each sideways movement the carriage made had her body colliding into the surrounding walls causing her skin to bruise. Suddenly the carriage came to a dramatic halt and her head thumped against the floor just as the door swung open revealing a worried Aramis.

"Your Majesty are you alright? Are you unharmed?" He began reaching down whilst he spoke, she initially thought he was offering a hand but instead he began gently skimming his hands over her body checking for any injuries. He quickly realised his mistake and apologised before pulling his hands back in an action that one would do after touching fire. "it's okay Aramis and I am fine, truly I am but what happened just now?"

"It was our mistake your highness, we misjudged how bad the roads would be when entering the forest and I am afraid one of the wheels of your carriage has become dismantled," it was Porthos who spoke as he pushed past a blushing Aramis to take Anne's hand and help her down to the ground.

"Can it be fixed?" asked Anne.

Her comment had all four men inspecting the damage, after muttering between themselves they turned to face her and Athos took a step forward bending down slightly in a rather patronizing manner, "It can be fixed however it will take some time, I advise you and your ladies rest for a couple of hours whilst we repair the damage."

Despite her insisting she could help mend the carriage or at least do something useful, the Musketeers would not hear of her having to endure any labour, clearly they didn't understand that she wanted to help. Instead she was led to an open area amongst the trees and Aramis set up a small camp for her and her ladies.

The chatter amongst her ladies in waiting soon turned to gossip, Anne didn't like to gossip so she tuned out and turned her attention to the nearby Musketeers. They were all huddled around the front of the carriage, she could not hear what was being said but they seemed to be having a heated discussion. The conversation seemed to be escalating quickly and Athos seemed to be waving his hands around like a mad man. The next thing she knew D'artangnan was thrown to the ground by a fuming Athos. Aramis crouched down in a ball of hysterical laughter, the others seemed less amused and threw Aramis dirty looks before one by one joining in with the laughter. Anne couldn't help but feel a pang of depression at the situation, she was aching to join them, she was aching to be a part of their group. She'd spent hundreds of nights praying for a friend, she was still waiting for God to answer her prayers.

It was then that Anne realised, maybe the reason she didn't have many friends was because she never tried. She always blamed it on her being Queen but by doing so she never actually tried as she always expected to be let down. Anne needed to stop living in her thoughts, she needed to have an adventure. Finally her husband had let her leave the palace without him as company, this was her first chance in a long time to be the real person hidden beneath the crown. At that thought, she stood up (rather suddenly she might add, causing her ladies to stir.) She grabbed the hem of her dress and practically marched to where Aramis and his friends stood.

"I am sorry if this comes out as rude, but we are in the middle of the woods, stranded. I do not see why I cannot help you. I could at least keep you company. Yes, I may be Queen, but I am not going to run off to Louis and snitch that you forced me into hard labour, and I'm certainly not going to be unhelpful. I am asking you as a woman bored out of her mind: can I please have some sort of task to distract myself with?" She realised how insane she was, her voice was a mix of frustration and whininess. Looking at each of the four men in front of her, now stood in a straight horizontal line, she suddenly felt humiliated and rather scared of what they might say. They were literally standing with their mouths hanging open and they were looking at her as if she had just suggested they all strip naked and hold hands whilst chanting out spells.

"Well… ok then… err right! I mean of course you can help..." There was a long awkward pause before D'artangnan carried on, "Aramis was just about to go and collect some sticks, we were going to start a fire for you whilst we fix things up. Maybe you could help him?"

"Thank you, that would be wonderful. I just want to be of help." She threw them all a look of apology regretting her outburst as it looked as if D'artangnan may have wet himself from fear. It occurred to her that even though she knew a lot about these four men and was strangely fond of each of them, none of them knew much about her. In fact none of them had held a conversation with her (apart from Athos) for more than five minutes. Anne decided she would change that and make sure she befriended each of them.

She looked over to Aramis who smiled warmly at her, his soft dough eyes melting her heart. He turned around to grab a nearby cloak, stepping forward he offered to put it on, his fingers gently stroking her arms, leaving the hairs to stand on end. It was a small exchange, but it had her stomach doing summersaults.

"If you are ready your majesty," Aramis bent forward, yet again his eyes strained upwards so that they kept eye contact.

"Of course monsieur," with that they both slowly strolled off into the nearby trees, leaving behind them a small crowd of gossiping girls, and an even smaller crowd of embarrassed men.

They had been gone a while now, things started off extremely awkward with the beginning consisting of a lot of small talk but after a while they slipped into an easy conversation. Anne found that talking about the past was a great conversation for people who were practically strangers as there was years of events that could be discussed, eliminating the chance of anyone running out of things to say.

"So you and your sister used to make your father homemade cups of tea… But instead of the proper ingredients, you would use dirt?" Anne stifled a laugh, she couldn't quite come to terms with all the antics Aramis got up to as a child. It seemed his childhood contrasted hers dramatically.

Aramis looked sideways towards the trees his eyes clouding a bit, clearly lost in thought, "what can I say, we were young, poor and had a surprising amount of imagination."

"I am guessing you and your sister are very close then."

"We are the best of friends, we were practically inseparable as kids, recently I haven't seen her as much," Anne could feel the sorrow that was contained in his words. "She almost died once. My father was ill as usual and he told me to leave the house for a few hours. He said my sister deserved to experience as much happiness as possible. Anyway, I took her to a lake. I can still replay it over in my mind…" Anne nodded for him to carry on. "We were playing and she slipped, falling into the river. I initially began to laugh only to realise she was drowning, I spent what felt like hours chasing her down the river bank trying to catch up with her and the rapid waters she was stuck in. She kept going under and she was flailing around. I finally jumped in after her and dragged her to the shore. She stopped breathing for a minute, the longest minute of my life," at that last sentence he finally looked up from the ground and into her eyes. She felt it, an overwhelming sense of understanding passed between the two.

"I don't know what to say," and she truly didn't.

"You do not have to say anything, the story has a happy ending it only made the two of us closer, if that was even possible."

She smiled at that, and found her thoughts wandering to Aramis's sister and what she must be like. She wondered if she too had Aramis's messy black hair or maybe she managed to tame it better. She wondered if she too had a mischievous grin that held the ability to make almost anyone grin back. She also wondered if she too had big brown eyes that managed to hold so much emotion that half the information was told through those eyes instead of the mouth.

"Me and my brother were close once too, that is until he packed me of too an unknown country!" She realised she was out of place talking about the King of Spain to a Musketeer but nevertheless she really didn't give a damn.

Anne could sense Aramis was struggling for a reply. She pitied him, he was renowned for his flirtatious ways and his comfort amongst women, the rumours state that he's capable of bedding almost any woman. And yet here he was lost for words.

"I am sure he…"

"I know he has perfectly valid reasons for sending me to France, but he is my brother and as his sister I am allowed to resent him for this," Anne interrupted Aramis, she really wasn't in the mood for listening to him try and defend her brother.

"I was simply going to say that I am sure he regrets it every single day," Aramis turned to her throwing her a cheeky grin. She grinned back.

"Do you know what I have come to notice?"

"What is that your Majesty?" Aramis walked ahead a few steps and then turned so that he walked backwards but also so that they could now face one another.

"We have been gone a while and I have managed to collect three useable sticks and you…" She skipped over to him, he stopped and presented the single stick he was carrying, looking up at her he let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Exactly!" She said joining in the laughter.

They decided to do what they came to do. Being the gentlemen he was, Aramis offered to carry her pile of sticks but she refused him politely. They probably had more than needed but she didn't mind as it meant she got to spend more time with Aramis.

"You know I like to think that after this we have become friends monsieur!" Anne posed it as a statement but really it was a question. She glanced over to him, trying to mask how quickly her heart was currently beating. Would he agree or simply laugh at her?

"I would certainly think so, after all I don't go telling my life story to just anyone," Aramis's words reassured her and she smiled widely. She had a friend.

"Oi! Where in god's name have you two been?" The camp had just come into sight and Porthos was stood facing them.

"I am sorry for the delay monsieur. I really hope you can forgive us, the sticks were too heavy for us both to carry." Anne put on her best acting skills and gave the impression that she was extremely sad at the fact they were delayed.

Porthos's eyes widened and he shuck his head violently whilst also shaking his hands as though he was waving at them. "Of course I can forgive you your majesty, after all you have done nothing wrong."

Anne and Aramis both let out a loud laugh leaving Porthos extremely confused and scratching his head. They then both strolled over to Athos who was examining them intently.

"Your majesty I now request you get some rest, we will hopefully be leaving at sunrise," Athos took her hand leading her to where her ladies sat.

"Sunrise? We are staying the night?"

D'artangnan appeared beside her, "I am afraid so, a lot of damage was done and I for one do not wish to travel through nightfall."

Anne sat down ignoring everyone and everything around her, after all how could she admit that she, the Queen of France was afraid of the dark.


	5. Chapter 5

**Every time I put up a new chapter I get worried that I have made mistakes, so I apologise if I have or will do. As usual I love all reviews I receive. Anyway here is chapter 5, enjoy!**

 **Dodo98: You're very welcome thanks for leaving your thoughts! Yes I have decided to include everything that I wished had happened in the show into this story, so I am determined to have Anne call Aramis Rene at least once;) Yes I completely agree and I think that is why they are so perfect for each over. And thank you again, your comments encourage my writing :D**

Enchanted by the fire Aramis sat beside it perfectly still. Everyone around him was chatting cheerfully, it wasn't as if Aramis was purposely excluding himself from the conversations but he found the flames of the fire captured him. The flames flickered in the wind forming abstract shapes, each flame appeared as though it was dancing fluidly, if Aramis concentrated hard enough he could occasionally depict a story being told by the flames. He would spend a lot of time sat beside a fire watching the flames, he would do so when his brothers were getting on his tether, or when he needed some time to think or sometimes when he was tired and needed a break from the buzz of life. Thinking about it, he spent far too much time around a fire.

"Off in no-man's land are we ma chap," Porthos came over and slumped clumsily beside him clearly the drink was already taking a toll on him.

"I am simply counting down the minutes before you become too drunk to walk, I am making a bet with myself that your head will be hitting the floor in around ten minutes!"

"I would argue… But you're probably right. Seriously though, have you been feeling alright? Recently you have looked a bit… off!" Porthos turned his head so he was looking straight into Aramis's eyes. Aramis knew what he was doing, after years of friendship they had each gained the ability to read each other like a book. They could easily tell the others true emotions just by looking at one another closely, they could also detect when the other was lying.

"I am fine; to be honest I don't know what has been going on recently, I think I've just hit a rough spot. Nothing has caused it do not fear, it must just be my raging hormones it's my time of the month you see!" Aramis succeeded in making Porthos laugh, one of his favourite things was hearing Porthos's bellowing chuckle.

"Glad to see this rough spot is not affecting your humour," Porthos pulled himself up with a nearby branch only to stumble back down again. Laughing he practically crawled over to where a young lady named Charlotte sat.

Aramis sat smiling to himself as he watched his friend try and chat up the ladies, unfortunately for Porthos none of them seemed interested some even turning up their noses at the stench of beer that clung strongly to his clothes.

Everyone had clustered around the fire once the sun had set, status mattered little on this night as there was no special treatment to offer the people of higher ranks. It was pleasant to watch everyone, there was not many people to be fair only around ten but half of these ten people had never met before today so it was interesting to see which friendships blossomed and which… Well flopped!

Looking around the fire his eyes set on the Queen, she was sat amongst her ladies but she was clearly feigning interest in them. She glanced up from the floor to look straight into his eyes. They sat there for a few moments simply staring until Aramis broke the seriousness by offering her a small smile, she smiled back. He had to admit that he enjoyed their prior conversation. Before today he knew near to nothing about her, he had seen her commit kind acts on occasion and knew her to be a much better leader than her husband but that was as far as his knowledge extended. But today he had opened up to her like he wouldn't normally do with others and she had opened up to him in ways a normal Queen wouldn't do to their servants and for that he found a sense of admiration towards her.

"Stop it, stop it now!" A hand grabbed his shoulder, the hand belonged to Athos and he was glaring down upon him.

"Stop what?"

Athos plumped himself down beside Aramis, "you know perfectly well what. You were just giving the Queen of France the stare, the stare you use on whores of the street not the flipping Queen of France."

"You shut your mouth, you know I don't sleep around with just anyone and I will not put up with your foul mouth! Besides I was not giving her THE stare I was simply smiling at her, is that not allowed?" Aramis kept his words hushed so that no one (the Queen especially) would hear.

Athos wouldn't give up on the interrogating questions, clearly he wanted to get to the bottom of the whole situation. "Alright, what were you up to in the forest? You were gone much longer than necessary, so what did you do to her?"

"I didn't DO ANYTHING!" Aramis did not intend to shout but his anger got the best of him, the pair of them now had the attention of everyone around the fire. "I cannot believe you would even think for one second that I would do something as blasphemous as that. I understand that you're upset about Milady and she is causing you to look at things in a more depressing mind-set, but we are brothers Athos! Don't ever insult me through doubting my morals," Aramis spoke the last part in a whisper so only Athos could here, he then stormed off into the woods to take a walk.

He could not even believe what Athos was hinting at, how could a thought like that even come about. Did they really think so little of him? He just couldn't comprehend how Athos could even hint at an accusation like that. It wasn't as if he could not answer the Queens questions, it wasn't as if he could not smile back at her! He decided to ignore the fact that for the past five minutes of walking through the forest he could not erase the image of the Queen smiling at him from across the fire.

*Snap*

Aramis froze. He stood there like a statue, it was a twig he had heard but he knew the snapping of the twig was not him. His first thoughts were that Athos had followed him into the woods, but being the skilled soldier he was, he knew not to call out for his friend.

*Snap*

It was definitely not him making the noise. Crouching down he tried to silently crawl into a nearby bush. Making no noise was almost impossible with the amount of nature obstacles around him, still he managed to make it to a hidden bush without causing too much disruption. The snapping of twigs was becoming more frequent now, it was also getting louder, clearly someone was walking in his direction. Aramis was starting to hear hushed voices too, so he bent forward slightly as if moving his face an extra few centimetres would help him hear what they were saying. After a few moments their words became clear and he could begin to understand what they were saying, it was only then that he realised they were not speaking French but Spanish instead.

"It is only common sense that they would be traveling this way through the forest, it is a known shortcut that many people take," a heavily accented voice could be heard a few meters away, Aramis peered through the gaps in the leaves to see three men.

"Don't be so naïve, peasants travel through woods like these! Seriously what kind of imbecile would take the Queen of France through a place like this in the middle of the night!" The tallest of the three spat his words out as he marched ahead of the other two.

"Well this is the French we are talking about, wouldn't exactly call them smart. God I cannot wait to spill some filthy French blood, especially her blood," Aramis's throat dried instantly, was he talking about the Queens blood? The three men were dressed in black attire, their clothes shredded and stained with blood. These men were clearly dangerous and seemed to take pleasure from slaughtering innocent lives.

"ENOUGH!" The third voice had the other two stopping in their tracks. Aramis realised that this man must be their leader, he was of average height but appeared tiny in comparison to the two men in his company. He had a hat shadowing his face, Aramis didn't know what it was about this man but he gave him the wrong vibes. Although the other two were built for the sole purpose of devouring weaker men, this person spelled out danger and Aramis took a mental note to not stand with his back facing this particular man. "If any of us is to be spilling that minx's blood it will be me. Despite that fact, I will still not be the one to do it, he will. He wants her alive and she will be handed to him alive if the two of you have any problems with that then put your mouths over your pistols now because you will only die later at his hands."

"We have absolutely no problem with that sir!" Both men spoke in unison, cowering at the mans words.

"Good, now if you two had stopped bickering you would have notice the footprints in the soil, we will wait until sunrise and then follow these prints!"

Shit. Aramis's heart was pounding rapidly he needed to get back to camp. He remained crouched behind the bush for a while, the Spaniards had inconveniently decided to rest against a tree just opposite him, it took them a while to leave and Aramis was beginning to surrender to the pain in his legs from all the pressure being put on them. Unfortunately Aramis could not risk moving to a comfier position, not unless he wanted to lose his own life. He waited until all he could hear was the rustling of the trees in the wind and then he practically leaped out of the bush sprinting to where he had come from. It felt like hours but it was in fact minutes, still Aramis was slightly confused at how far he had travelled, clearly his previous anger had made him quick on his feet. He could just make out the small glow of orange in the near distance and happy voices were starting to become clear.

Heaving out raspy breaths he reached the circle of people and fell to his knees. They all shot up visibly concerned about his wellbeing.

"Where in god's name have you been?"

"Aramis, Aramis are you okay?"

"What happened to you, where did you go?"

"I am sorry Aramis, I should not have said what I said!"

"EVERYONE SHUTUP HE IS TRYING TO SPEAK." Aramis was shocked that the loud shout had spilled from the Queens mouth, he looked up to her and gave her a thankful nod, she responded with a worried look, her eyes asking him thousands of questions.

It took him a few moments to catch his breath. He could feel the people around him losing their patience, and he knew he had to spit out his sentence before the Spanish found them.

"I was walking and I heard a noise, It was the Spanish, three men, dangerous and bloodthirsty. They want the Queen alive, I cannot say the same about the rest of us," everyone was surprised at the news; his brothers remained calm whereas the women started to panic, as for the Queen, well she stood rooted to the spot her face pale.

"Are you sure they are after her Majesty?" It was Athos who spoke, trust Athos to remain smart and sensible after receiving such distressing news.

"Positive, I heard them myself they will be here soon."

Within minutes the fire had been put out and everyone was working hard to gather all their equipment and belongings. "Okay am I the only person who has realised we don't actually have any method of transportation for the Queen and her ladies? The carriage is still broken, we decided to wait till morning to fix the damage remember!" Malcolm came jogging over as he spoke, he himself was not a Musketeer but he rode alongside the carriage and he seemed to have gotten rather friendly with some of the women. He had just been inspecting the carriage and he was right it was certainly not an option of transportation.

"I think our only option is to have two people riding on each horse, the math works out. I also suggest we split into two groups, four will travel straight to our destination, the Queen must be one of those four as for the other six, they will go the longer route that way the Spanish will not know which tracks to follow."

"Excellent plan, I do not mind being one of the six who take the longer route, how about you D'artangnan the Queen and Charlotte take the short route!" Malcolm spoke his words louder to avoid explaining twice to the rest of the group.

Charlotte began to approach Aramis, "I do not wish to be rude but surely you could kill them, I mean there is three of them and ten of us."

"That is not an option whilst the Queen is in our possession, we cannot risk them getting their hands on her, after all I doubt they are here for a friendly chat." Athos's light humour did not manage to wipe the worried faces off the five ladies. "Besides for all we know there could be more men out there."

Pretty much everyone had paired up by the time Athos had finished speaking. The Queen had subtly edged towards Aramis and he smiled at her letting her know that he would gladly ride with her.

"I'm scared Aramis," She spoke so quietly and he almost didn't hear.

He stepped closer to her so their arms were touching and so that he could smell the enchanting Jasmine that mingled in her fallen locks. "Like I said to you before, I will not let any harm come to you. You are save with me, I've got you."

She looked up at him, her eyes were moist with unfallen tears, "did I tell you I was afraid of the dark. I thought tonight would help me overcome my fears but all I want to do now is crawl up In a ball and wait until sunrise." She chuckled slowly and there was a shadow of a smirk on her face.

"Well how about we make a deal, you get on the horse and ride with me and then tomorrow night when you are safe in a bed you can crawl into whatever shape you like," Aramis grinned at her and took her hand helping her up onto the horse, she was sat between his legs and the heat from their bodies radiated off onto one another keeping them a tiny bit warmer.

"Is everyone ready and understood on the plan?" Porthos looked around waiting for a reply. One by one everyone replied, and the two groups said their farewells.

"Are you ready?" Aramis whispered into Anne's ears and she nodded. Pulling the reigns they galloped of following the lead of D'artangnan and his horse. The trees were a blur and the stars were shining upon them, although they were being hunted down Aramis felt surprisingly happy with the Queen in his arms and he decided to hold her just a little bit tighter… For reassurance.


End file.
